


At the Turn of the Solar Wheel

by saiyuri_dahlia



Series: Our First Year [8]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: M/M, Midsummer, Series Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1817578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiyuri_dahlia/pseuds/saiyuri_dahlia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the longest day of the year, Ordon Village is reborn by the sun's fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Turn of the Solar Wheel

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank all the readers that gave kudos on the previous stories since the last post. Like the tag says, this is the final story in this series. As sad as I am to see it go, I admit I'm a bit relieved as well since it's a bit stressful to write for fixed deadlines and there were a few times my holiday specials demanded precedent over my other stories. But this series was a lot of fun to do and I hope it was fun to read. I would like to thank everyone for reading, giving kudos, and occasionally leaving a comment. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading.

Series Title: Our First Year

Disclaimer: Ah, no, I do not own TP.

-o-

Lithtide (Midsummer): At the Turn of the Solar Wheel

-o-

Ordon Village was ablaze with the rich, aromatic herb-infused bonfires of apple, birch, cedar, and oak trees drying the village's stock of healing herbs for the coming year picked at first dew this morning. Another pair of bonfires were built in front of the stable gates and were going to be lit before the goats were rounded up for the night. It was old tradition that the fire would clean the herd of bad spirits. The entire holiday centered on the sun's light and heat and its purification powers.

Lithtide was fairly simple. After picking herbs early in the morning, the village gathered at Ordona's spring in simple robes for a purification rite, finishing with everyone ducking under the water at least once—Talo usually ducked under a few times since a little extra washing never hurt—and the rest of the day was spent building bonfires, sprinkling herb-infused sacred spring water to cleanse their homes and roads of evil and they gathered wild fruit, baked bread, and cooked for the sunset feast.

Wild honeysuckle, lilies, lilacs, orchids and irises were in bloom throughout the village and the forest and perfumed the air with their sweet scents. An old wagon wheel was made into a solar wheel and held twelve candles, for now unlit. It set as the centerpiece on several green and gold-clothed tables pushed together that would hold the communal feast.

Link left the goats under Fado's watch, knowing he might have to chase after an escaped billy or two. Surely, he could keep an eye on the herd for a half an hour, though. Link had just reached the bottom of the hill before he had to wrangle a nanny charging down the ranch road.

He was pleasantly greeted to the sight of Shad setting his lunch out. A rainstorm yesterday morning had broke the damp heat sweltering the village for weeks so this Lithtide was just perfect, no blazing sun, no sticky bodies, just a nice and dry summer day. As Link sat down, Shad laid down a platter of fried rice topped with slices of goat meat and grilled peaches. It smelled amazing.

"I swear if I didn't work everyday, I'd be fat and ready for market real quick living with you," Link said, his hand twitching in eagerness as it hunted for a fork.

"Your metabolism is a wonder, old boy," Shad said, taking a seat with him. "How you consume such vast quantities without the slightest fluctuation of your figure shall be my next subject of study, I do believe."

"I was giving you a compliment, Shad," Link said through his soft laughter, much to his scholar's surprise. "You said you don't cook but you _can_ cook. Pretty good, in fact."

"Pretty _well_ , my dear," his scholar corrected and pink spread across his cheeks as he looked away in embarrassment. "…And thank you. I made an effort to improve my rudimentary range of cooking skills once it became apparent I would not be providing for just myself any longer."

"I bet you ate cake everyday before I came along." Link leaned toward him and grinned.

"Eat already," Shad ordered, his face pinched tight.

Link happily did so.

The kids came back from blackberry picking and unfortunately, Honey had assisted in the trial tasting. She had a deep purple tongue and purple splotches in her white patches of fur around her neck and much as Shad wasn't pleased by her new color and fretted, Link found the purple blots amusing. After all, a splash of purple was nothing to Honey coming back to their camp soaking wet with burs, mud, and ticks in her coat after playing run and seek with the Skull Kid.

"Hey, Link," Colin called from the riverbank, "want to say hi to Pumpkin?"

"Sure," Link said.

Colin waded into the deeper water and started splashing and calling for Pumpkin. Link had been there the day Colin and Rusl moved his goldfish into the river since she had grown too big for her glass tank and there was no place in the house to place a tank roomy enough for her. Colin had done amazing work with Pumpkin so far and last Link had seen of her, she was as large as her namesake. Colin wasn't overfeeding her and she didn't look or acted sick. She was just big.

And then as a tall, thick, muscular golden fin rose out of the water, Link dropped his forkful of fried rice and stared, mouth gaping, at the humongous goldfish rising from the river's depths. Pumpkin was now easily as long as Colin was tall and had a mouth as wide as Link's shoulder span. Colin called to him and waved and Link idly nodded back as he and Shad gawked in utter shock as the fair-haired boy climbed onto the monster goldfish's back and rode it around. The other kids didn't seem surprised at all and Link started to wonder what went on around the village when he was out of town.

"I say, what in heavens has he been feeding it?" he heard his scholar ask.

Whatever it was, it sure wasn't crickets anymore. Pumpkin had definitely fended for herself and Colin's meals were probably just snacks between hunts. Link made a note to check on what remained of the greengills. "Don't know," Link said, grinning in disbelief. "But it's working, you think?"

"Until it eats him," Malo said, absolutely serious.

Talo's eyes grew wide. "You think it would?"

"Don't say things like that!" Beth shouted, smacking Talo in the arm. "You boys are awful!"

"I don't _want_ him to get eaten," Talo said, rubbing his aching arm. "I just wanna know if it would..."

Guiding her closer to the riverbank, Colin slipped off her and raced to the banks as she dipped back into the deeper depths with a bit of a hopping dive. Link rose from his seat and met Colin halfway, with Shad and the kids following him.

"I must say you've done really well with Pumpkin. I'm real proud," Link said. "But promise me this… If she ever tries to kiss you, run, swim, get away as fast as you can."

"Okay…" Colin said, not quite understanding, "but why?"

"'Cause she's gonna eat you!" Talo yelled, raising his arms into the air as he acted out Pumpkin swallowing him whole.

"She wouldn't do that," Colin said, looking back at Pumpkin at just the right moment to watch the undisputed Queen of the River leap out of the water and catch and swallow a small bird flying too low overhead. Her return splash sent spray flying several feet into the air and the chopping waves crashing against the banks and tiny wooden piers.

"I must say, a little parental supervision during Pumpkin's feeding and playtime would not be harmful," Shad said as they all watched Pumpkin's shadow dart toward the deep pool at the river's mouth. "…Just as a precaution."

As the twilight began to shine over Ordon Village, Link and Fado led the herd between the bonfires and into their stables early for the evening, knowing the herd would not like the noise to come. Link then guided Epona into her stall and fed and watered her for the same reason—she wouldn't spook as easily, being used to being shot at with flaming arrows, charging past exploding bombs, being flanked by giant boars and spectral war horses, but if she was calm, the herd might take her lead and stay calm too.

Bonfires blazing and the solar wheel lit, the village was blanketed in warmth from the red and yellow flames and golden twilight. The sunset feast was finished and spread out and, on the way from the ranch, Link decided he would first grab a chunk of warm bread, soften a bit of goat cheese on top, and crown it with a fat blackberry.

"Hey, Link, it's your year," Mayor Bo said, giving Link's shoulders a strong, friendly shake. "Should be easy. You've been ready since you were knee-high."

"Your year in what way, old boy? What might we additionally be celebrating?" Shad asked with interest as he liberally sprinkled sugar over his strawberries.

"My year to jump over the bonfire," Link replied, popping a tart blackberry into his mouth, as his scholar stared noticeably alarmed and perplexed back at him. "It's an old custom. One of those boy to man stunts. We used to jump charging goats. Fire was more dangerous."

Shad was far less pleased at the sight of Link's grin than he was. "Indeed," he said, his tone a bit wry and even, "nothing speaks more of and to masculinity that setting something ablaze."

The village gathered around and out of the way and shouted encouragements, Talo being the loudest, as Link approached the bonfire and took a few steps back. He had been jumping goats and fires and a whole lot of other big and scary beasts since he was little but this would be first year his jump would count. With or without jumping, Link was without a doubt still a man in the village but it was an old Lithtide tradition, done long before Ordon Village was a village, and was a lot of fun to watch.

Rushing toward the flames, he decided his point and leapt. He easily covered the fire, barely felt the heat bite his ankles, and landed safely and with show as he effortlessly and nearly instinctively rolled to his feet, ready to draw his bow or blade if he had either on hand. His friends and family applauded and congratulated him generously as Link thanked them, bowing his head modestly.

"Come on, Shad," Link said, grinning, as he turned and stepped toward him. "It's your turn."

"A-Ah, n-no, no, old boy," he stuttered, adamantly waving his hands and shaking his head no. "While I appreciate that you are willing to include me in your traditions, I will r-respectfully pass on proving my bravery and physical prowess as we both are aware I do not possess enough of either to be triumphant. Years of surrounding myself amid archaic tomes and flurries of antiquated motes of dust have left me far too combustible."

Link laughed softly as he took Shad's hands. "It's not that hard. I'm sure you can make it."

"Can and will are two different terms with varying prospects of success," Shad said, digging his boot heels in the dirt as Link slowly inched him toward the bonfire. "And I will accept a boyhood status within your village for the rest of my life if it means my lower half remains unseared. I assure you Borville's burn creams are far too assaulting on one's olfactory senses. You will not be able to tolerate my presence for months."

The sounds of clopping hooves growing louder and closer made Link wonder if Epona had gotten free but there were far too many hooves for it to only be her. He thought he heard the thump of cart hitting a rough dip in the road. Unfortunately, the protective hills and lush, dense forest blocked all view of the single road leading in and out of Ordon Village.

Still he and the rest of the curious villagers directed an eye toward the coming passerby. "Give it a try—"

"You give a _try_ to a new food," Shad replied, his stare firm. "You do not give a try to leaping over flam— " His words were immediately cut off as he and Link watched as a carriage made its way down the main dirt road.

"It cannot be…" Shad spoke softly. Link was pretty surprised himself.

Bringing the pair of horses to a stop, the driver hurried to open the carriage door but Shad's mother had opened the door for herself. She looked about uncertainly, first at the bare ground, then at the hills and trees, and finally at the village's rustic homes and grimaced. Her deep purple dress was identical in style to her last dress but this time she wore a large white sunhat decorated in black orchids, some of which were actually just a very deep purple but some were truly black.

Her driver helped her gingerly step down as she winced and made soft but shrill little whines as her heeled boots made contact with the earth.

"…Mother?" Shad said, eyes wide in disbelief, quite like his mother's own shocked to be traipsing in Ordon's dirt stare as she wobbled on the tips of her heeled boots toward him. "I thought I would never see you again. I thought that I was no longer your son. Why have you traveled this far?"

Partly staring down at her boots with each wobble as she planned her next step and struggled noticeably to keep the dirt from scuffing her impeccable standards, Shad's mother tried to offer her son a smile but only managed to smile through a pained wince.

"The boy…" she said, meeting Link's hard eyes and then quickly averted her stare in shame. She winced once more as she corrected herself, "Your Link…wrote to me. He brought to my attention in very honest and illuminating terms that I put you through a great dismay after…the grand and daft error I made. After reading his letter, I took time to reconsider a lot of what you have said and a lot of what I have said and I arrived at several revelations, one of which being that I should take account for my behavior and…"

Shad's mother stood very formal before her son. She stood ramrod straight, head raised, and laid her hands, one atop the other, in front. But gradually as she spoke, Link watched her tear up, watched her struggle to hold her prim and proper mask, and heard her voice strain and crack until finally the stone crumbled and Shad's mother wept and trembled as she stumbled into her son's arms. "Oh darling, I said some terrible things to you! I was foolish. I was…wrong."

"Mother, and I mean this with all the love in the world," Shad said, taking his mother's hands and clasped them warmly," but I believed you when you cast me out, when you declared I was no longer your son. To hear you admit to an error in your judgment is something I never conceived plausible."

His mother nodded in understanding as she took a handkerchief from her inner dress pocket and dabbed her wet eyes dry, her tears washing away and streaking through the white powder hiding her dark circles under her eyes from weeks of unrest.

The village looked on in awkward silence, not sure of what to say and knowing this was no place for any one of them to speak. The matters between Shad, his crying mother, and Link were their own, after all. But Link was surprised she was here and that she had even bothered to read his letter, more so that she had taken his words of honest devotion to her son and offers of a truce for Shad's sake so deeply to heart.

"My family is indeed full of priggish tomfools and I am no different," she said. "I once was not so…vicious, but your father's sudden death left me extraordinarily angry. I was bitter at your father for going, at myself for letting him, at the Goddesses for taking my beloved from me. For a long while, I believed that if I remained angry long enough he would come strutting back to me, tease me mercilessly over my presumed slights, and offer his usual wretched excuses for his tardiness…"

"You know the emptiness we felt at his passing, how lost we were…" Shad's mother continued, "but you have your father's will, his resolve. You had his research to anchor you and drive you onwards and out of the dark. I felt as if I had nothing. I was a compass needle left spinning in all directions, searching for a force as strong as your father to guide me as he once did."

"Mother, if you had needed me," Shad said, "if you had said or even hinted at your suffering, I would have gladly been at your side."

"Then you would have become as miserable as I and you have observed what a rotten soul I am. No, pursuing your father's research was your best course of healing." Smiling softly, she gently patted his hands, still clasping hers. "Besides, darling, it is my responsibility to take care of you. I could not burden you."

Shad opened his mouth to respond and then closed it as he found himself agreeing with his mother, at least where it came to pursuing his father's research as a form of grief counseling. Though Link had met Shad toward the end of his research, his scholar had told him over many nights together how his father's research had saved him from the void created at his loss.

"Your father was a brilliant man, far brighter than many, including myself. I loved listening to him explain his newest theory or contraption. He did so with such conviction and passion and excitement. You do the same, my dear," she said, honestly smiling, as she cupped her hands around his face. "You are so much like your father. …I am grateful for that."

Even without meeting the man, Link could very much agree to that. After all, much of the Group and Shad's mother all mentioned at one point or another how much Shad was like his father. Link felt like he knew the man well. It was a shame he had passed long before he ever met his son. If half his stories were true, they could have had a lot of fun adventures.

"It took my unkindness to you to realize that you are all that I have left of him, you are the gift he blessed me with. I lost my family the day I married your father and then I lost him. My one remaining tie to this world, all that I have left is you and I foolishly cast you away for favor and acceptance from pigs and fools. I love you more, my son, and I am willing to do whatever I must to keep you. Please, find the sympathy to forgive your terrible mother."

"Yes, yes, of course," Shad said readily, his smile absolutely beaming. "However, please, Mother, do be civil with Link from now on? I am afraid I cannot bear to have the two of you at odds like before nor can I request of Link to overlook your criticisms anymore. There will be none of that. If you wish for me to remain in your life, you must accept that Link will be in mine."

Shad's mother's eyes widened in surprise and she gasped quietly before she looked away in uncertainty. Her jaw tightened in displeasure. "I am afraid there is little we innately share in common between one another," she said, anxiously wringing her hands, as she forced herself to make eye contact with Link, "however, as it pertains to seeing fit that you are happy and well, we stand in concurrence. If he can forgive my past transgressions, I will place all my judgments aside."

After all she had said about him being stupid, dirty, worthless, treated him like a servant and stableman, made him sleep in a stable once, and more than once said Shad should be more selective of his friends, and then also toppling her lashing on her birthday, after every snide snip and quip, after every curt, finger-snapping order, Link had earned the right to say no. But she was Shad's mother and while her intentions were a little misguided, she did love her son and she was going to be in Shad's life, whether Link or Shad necessarily wanted her to be or not.

Link could've easily said no, but his immediate reaction was to shrug his shoulders and offer his hand. Shad's mother seemed at bit taken that he had accepted her apology so easily but, pulling her hand away only once out of hesitation, Shad's mother finally clasped hands with Link. Shad seemed fit to burst with joy at their newfound agreement.

"And really you could not have chosen a better day, Mother. Today is Lithtide in Ordon, a wonderful holy day regarding and focusing upon purification. Appropriate, yes?" Shad said, quite chipper, until he looked at Link and evened his tone, "However, I am still not about to leap over any flames."

Shad's mother's eyes widened in alarm and fixed on Link.

"You don't have to. I was teasing," Link said through his soft laughter and then to ease his mother's concern, explained, "It is tradition and I jumped. Shad doesn't have to."

"Ah, yes…well…good," Shad's mother replied. She reached for and wrapped her hands around the crook of Shad's arm, both to comfort herself and to protect her son.

"Then I'm next!" Talo shouted and rushed toward the bonfire.

His mother, Pergie, quickly scooped him up as he pouted and wiggled in her arms. "No, you aren't! You're too young."

It seemed that once Shad's mother's apology was through and Talo's little outburst broke the tension and uncertainty, the village began to breathe and ease back into the feasting and the preparations for the final rites of Lithtide, namely the fireworks show, began.

"Ah, I say! I do apologize for the rather public personal display," Shad said, bowing readily to the village as he laid a hand on the back of his head in embarrassment. "I am sorry if we have impeded the festivities or dampened the celebratory ambiance."

"No, not at all," Rusl said, approaching Shad's mother and offered his hand to her as he bowed politely to her. "It is a pleasure to meet you, madam. Your son is a remarkable young man. He has been a vital member of our Group for some time now."

Shad's mother blinked. "Your group?"

"Yes, we are a small band of…pro-active researchers," Rusl explained, taking note of Shad's wide eyes, cringing, and short head shakes behind his mother. "We investigate peculiar matters throughout Hyrule, collect information, take land surveys, assist the community…"

"By occasionally laying siege to a castle," Link added, much to Shad's mother's immediate shock and concern and Shad's panic, as the rest of the village, knowing full well of the Group's deeds, smiled in pride around them.

Apparently, Link realized, there was more his scholar had never told his mother about himself, including that he sometimes ducked flaming arrows and built hand-held bomb cannons and hung out with three of the craziest, bravest warriors the Light World ever knew.

"The castle was in ruins," Shad insisted. "It was only ruins, Mother."

"Yea, after Ganondorf blew it up," Link shot back, earning Shad's reprimanding glare.

"What we do, madam," Rusl calmly explained as Link and Shad stepped aside and argued rapidly between one another, which was mostly Shad insisting that Link quickly sew his mouth shut and say not a word more, "is all very academically enlightening and soul fortifying stuff. Very safe too."

"What?" Link said, raising his voice. "I'm shocked you haven't shown her your medal!"

Shad breathed an airy, frustrated sigh and furrowed his brow as Link let out another proverbial cat out of the bag, though he had on plenty of occasions let out literal cats out of literal bags before. "Really, is this the time—"

"Medal?" Shad's mother said, her interest peaked. "You received a medal?"

"A-ah, yes, Mother. Just a little commendation for outstanding service to the kingdom," Shad said, bowing his head and blushing in embarrassment. "It is nothing in comparison to the award and titles bestowed upon Link. Hyrule is truly indebted to him. I simply guided our Group through the Castle's halls and stayed alive and out of the way. The days Father permitted me to accompany him to work really did provide for in the end."

"Darling, you should have told me," his mother said, her voice swelling with pride and joy, as she put her arms around him and rose up onto the tips of her heeled boots and kissed his cheek. "My son, a scholar and a hero."

"Merely a bit player within a broader cast," Shad replied, still embarrassed.

"But we need all our players to put on a good show," Rusl said, giving Shad a quick pat on the back. "We need you now. Could you help us for a moment? We're setting up the posts for the rockets and we need to make sure the angles are just right."

Shad readily agreed to help and headed off with Rusl toward the riverbank where Bo, Jaggle, and Hanch were sorting through boxes of fireworks. Shad's mother remained where she stood, peered uncomfortably about and nervously touched the tips of her white gloves. Indeed, she was a stranger and this was not Castle Town. Link was the only other person she knew and they had not been on good speaking terms before.

Link walked over and stood beside her to show her that did not have to be the case.

"I…ah…" she began slowly, meeting Link's eyes and then looked away quickly as he approached her, "…wonder why my son never informed me of his great feats."

"Probably didn't want you to worry. He loves you," Link said, "but he's a lot braver than you think."

Her eyes shined with proud tears as she watched her son reprimand and try to wrestle a firework out of Honey's mouth and then took chase as the nosy corgi pup ran off with it, believing the rocket to be a brightly colored chew toy. "Indeed. …He has grown so much and only just now I am realizing." She held her head and eyes downward. "You helped him find his way to become so strong. His father would be proud of him. …Thank you."

Well, he certainly hadn't expected to hear a kind word from Shad's mother so soon. Maybe she would give him a kind word begrudgingly after years of Link proving himself to be caring to her son but not this soon. It seemed Shad's mother really had reconsidered a lot after his letter. "So, umm, are you okay with me and him?"

To Link's surprise, Shad's mother's awkward discomfort gave way to a small smile. "You are a good man. You care for my son dearly and you will protect him. If he feels happy and fulfilled with you…" She turned her head toward him and peered up at him, her smile warming just a hair. "There is nothing more a mother could ask for."

Link grinned. Maybe it wasn't an absolute acceptance but she was willing, even if she didn't personally agree with the two of them being together, to overlook her feelings for her son's happiness.

Eyes sparkling with awe, Beth had been inching herself closer and closer to Shad's mother and at last she was close enough to be noticed by (and very much puzzle) Shad's mother. "I like your dress and hat!" she said brightly. "It's very pretty."

"Oh, uh, thank you, dear," Shad's mother said a little surprised and unsure as she nodded politely. "And my, are you not a lovely young lady?"

"Do all the ladies in Castle Town wear pretty dresses like yours?"

"Ah, yes, they do and far, far other kinds of dresses and bonnets of different lengths and styles. It has even become fashionable for young ladies to traipse about in trousers like a boy…" Shad's mother, frowning in disgust at the thought, watched as Beth looked down at her pants with worry and hurt in her eyes. Link stood watching and waited to see if he needed to step in and take Beth away.

But Shad's mother, realizing her harshness, crouched down as well as she could in her tight-fitting dress and put on a gentle face. "Forgive my insensitivity. When I was a little girl, it was not socially acceptable for a young lady to wear pants. It has now fallen into new convention and I find it difficult to readjust my deep-rooted beliefs. …It is an enduring fault of mine," she said. "You are a lovely and fashionable young lady. Castle Town fashions will suit you well, though it is more proper for a young lady to prefer brighter colors. Yellows and pinks and pale blues…"

Beth's eyes grew wide and bright in joy and admiration once more as Shad's mother described dresses of Castle Town today and from her girlhood. Link had stayed and watched, knowing how hurtful and cold Shad's mother could be and he had thought for a moment there with Beth that tears were soon to follow, but indeed Shad's mother was learning how to dull her sharp edges.

Jaggle and Uli had sliced up the watermelons and handed them out to the kids while the fireworks were still being set up. The kids had climbed up the ivy, sat atop one of the stone pedestals, and spat their seeds into the river, which Pumpkin quickly scooped up. Shad's mother had settled in with Pergie, Sera, and Uli and talked and watched as Ilia blew bubbles for little Ara to toddle after and for Honey to chase.

The village was ablaze with bonfires and heat vapor shimmered the air. Golden twilight cast itself over the trees and outlined the hills and homes. Munching on a watermelon slice, Link took a moment just to appreciate the moment. But like most of his long stares around a dungeon, he only saw the most important bits. One bit was pretty interesting, though.

Heading over to where Shad stood crouched and examined a fuse, Link leaned forward and murmured by his ear. "Shad, look up on that ridge. What do you see?"

Shad continued on with his work. "If memory serves me right, there is nothing more than white-yellow flowers and a yellow rupee," his scholar replied as he rose to standing and turned to look. "However, old boy, I will play your game. What is it now…that I am supposed…" His voice trailed off in stunned disbelief at what he immediately saw.

Sitting by the cluster of white-yellow flowers and chewing on a stalk was a hare slightly bigger than a watermelon with a six-point rack of antlers sticking out of its head. In other words, it was a jackalope. Link could've gone after it but seeing Shad's face was a trophy in of itself. Wordlessly, his scholar handed him a red rupee.

"Keep it," Link said and laughed softly through his grin as he rose up onto the tips of his toes and kissed Shad's jaw. Sometimes, well, all the time if he wasn't sitting or crouching, his scholar's height really put a dent on his kisses. Boxes were Link's most despised friends.

Tomorrow would officially mark their first anniversary. It certainly didn't feel a year had past since he showed up at Shad's apartment with a cake and his true feelings on his sleeve after an innocent misunderstanding (really a plot between Ashei and Telma to drag Shad out of his dark hole) wound up with Link believing it was Shad's birthday—it wasn't but by the end of the night, it was just as happy as they sat curled up on Shad's sofa as he shook with laughter, quieted only by Link's lips and cake.

From then on, there had been more cake, a trip to the City in the Sky, medals and titles bestowed, baby Oocca, Honey made them three and there was cake for all, a short expedition to the ruins of the Temple of Time had offered his scholar more mysteries but Link still held back the greatest wonder for another day, everyone they knew and loved grew a year older and celebrated with cake, Colin had raised Ordon's first river guardian or monster, and Shad had lost and found his mother's love and, with any luck, his single curl of hair will survive his mother's visit.

Shad and Link had kissed, fought, made up, forgot their days—some of them were important—and stood by one another through rejected university grants and belittled presentations, ego-shattering bulbos rides gone bad, corgi pups with tummy troubles, and thwarted a coup, protected the Queen, and weeded out a few traitors from the Queen's council. A year had gone by, and there were many more to come…

On the longest day of the year, the twilight shined on and on, with meandering fireflies' green-yellow pulses dotting the orange and pink sunset. Bit by bit, the sky darkened and the stars came out to watch the show. And the skies above Ordon Village were set ablaze with bursts of red, purple, and green.


End file.
